Michael Ross Richmond

Michael R. Richmond was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1954.  He received his law degree, a juris doctorate, from John Marshall Law School in 1979.  He has been licensed to practice law since that time in both Illinois and the Federal Court System.  His license includes admission as a trial attorney before the federal courts and admission to the federal court of claims and the federal tax court. 

Mr. Richmond founded Heller & Richmond, Ltd. in 1984.  Heller & Richmond, Ltd. grew out of Heller & Morris and Assoc., Ltd., which began in one form or another in the 1950s.  His connection with the Heller & Morris family began in 1972.  The Heller & Richmond, Ltd. client base has a strong connection to those clients and their families that began with Heller & Morris over 50 years ago.

Michael Richmond’s practice has included many areas of the law, but has focused on personal injury claims that have occurred not only in Illinois, but also nationwide.  Many of his clients are from the Chicagoland area, but his cases involve matters that took place in California, Nevada, Oklahoma, Ohio, Mississippi and Florida just to name a few.  His tremendous successes include several case recoveries of one million dollars or more.  He was instrumental in obtaining one of the largest settlements of any birth injury claim, a multimillion dollar outcome, as reported in Chicago Lawyer and Crain’s Chicago Business. 

“I have a special passion for individuals who are mistreated by the big insurance companies.  This has led me to pursue several cases against insurance companies.  Perhaps my proudest accomplishment was a Supreme Court victory against an insurance company that failed to honor its full obligation to the family of a young man who was tragically struck and killed by a car.”  The unanimous Supreme Court decision in that case helped to define the law of underinsured motorist coverage in Illinois.

For over three decades Attorney Richmond has also assisted his family of clients, who were struggling with their sometimes overwhelming debt.  As a result, his law firm, Heller & Richmond, Ltd. has an active consumer bankruptcy practice, which includes numerous Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 cases.  The firm is often reported among those with the most significant number of bankruptcy filings in the Chicagoland area.  They are proud to offer this service at a very affordable rate.     

Mr. Richmond has been a member of not only local, but also national legal associations.  These include the Chicago Bar Association, the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, the American Association for Justice and the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys.  In addition he has served as an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association. 

He is also active in the physical fitness and wellness industry where he has lectured on the proper level of care required from medical fitness organizations and practitioners.  He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Medical Fitness Association.  He was recently honored with the appointment as Chairman of the Board beginning in 2012.

Michael Richmond was married for 30 years to his wife Marla, who tragically passed away in 2010.  They have a son, Matthew, who was recently awarded his doctoral degree in psychology.  Matthew, who was born with spina bifida, is the youngest board member of the Illinois Spina Bifida Assocation.  Their daughter, Melanie, is a doctoral student in psychology at the University of Illinois.  Marla’s masters degree was in exercise physiology.  She dedicated her life to providing mankind with the tools to live a healthy and balanced lifestyle.  She taught exercise science at the local, national level and international level.  Her books, The Physiology Storybook series are widely regarded around the world.  The whole Richmond family practices what it preaches and when not working hard in their chosen field can often be found leading an active and healthy lifestyle.